Pak govt bends rules for Ali Zafar

The Pakistan government recently lifted the ban on the video-sharing website, YouTube, for three days, as the promo of actor-singer Ali Zafar’s upcoming Bollywood film — Chashme Buddoor — was to be released online. The landmark move came as a surprise to everyone involved with the making of the film, including the Indian producers. “This proves that entertainment cuts across boundaries. Chashme Buddoor is a remake of a cult classic film and it clearly has an audience across the world,” says Vikram Malhotra, chief operating officer, Viacom18 Motion Pictures.

“The first look and trailer have generated a lot of curiosity. This means we are headed in the right direction,” he adds. The romantic-comedy is a remake of the 1981 hit that was directed by Sai Paranjpye. Ali is one of the three protagonists in the film (Siddharth and Divyendu Sharma play the other two parts), which has been directed by David Dhawan.

“Ali is a loved star in India and Pakistan; in fact in all of Asia. He has fans everywhere. I am glad that audiences across the border will get to watch the film when it releases (on April 5). But I am happiest about the fact that they got to watch the trailer launch in real time on YouTube,” says Malhotra.